


Peter Parker's Terrible Awful No Good Very Bad Field Trip

by PeachyKeener



Category: Iron Man - Fandom, Iron Man 3 - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: All of them are little shits, Angst, Brainwashing, F/M, Happy Ending, Harley Keener is a little shit, Harley being forced into being the asset? Bitch maybe, LISTEN A LOT OF THIS IS BASED OFF I SAID SO, LMAO, M/M, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Peter parker is babey, Precious Peter Parker, Tags to be added, Torture, at first :/, because I said so, hard of hearing harley, hes saved tho, i have, idk what this is, it stays light hearted, jewish harley, no one likes nazi's, precious harley keener, really fluffy!!, so much going on w this fic, yeah hydra is a thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-01-11 07:49:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18426201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeachyKeener/pseuds/PeachyKeener
Summary: Peter Parker goes on a field trip to SI.Chaos, Harley Keener, and madness, ensues.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> a,fdbjfladsbj i wrote this at four am over the course of three days please,,, respect me,

Peter Parker was not having a good day. 

In fact, if he could rate his day, his day would probably fall in between getting bitten by a radioactive spider and realizing that his life was a mess that he had to eventually clean up. It fell directly into those two categories. Mainly because that's what he felt like these day- a huge cluster fuck of a mess who just wanted to sit the fuck down and drink some goddamn milk. Just once! He would like! To have! A normal! Fucking Day!

But no, no. That was too much to ask anyone for. 

And that's how he ended up in this situation. Because he wanted to have a normal day. 

_ ‘Sorry Mr.Stark! I can’t come to work tomorrow,’ _ Peter mimicked himself in his thoughts as he looked at the floor, _ ‘My class has a field trip and I really wanna go!’  _

Did it matter that Peter didn’t know where the field trip was at the time? No! It hadn’t! All that had mattered was that he go and have a good time and be chummy with Ned and MJ, and prove that he was just a normal chummy kind of guy. Nothing weird or super about him, no siree. But unfortunately for Peter, he couldn’t catch a break. Ever. 

And that’s how he found himself staring at the floor of the lobby of Stark Industries with his class waiting to be picked up by a tour guide- something that Peter was regretting. Because he knew who the tour guide would be. He dreaded who the tour guide would be. The tour guide would come in the form of an adorable 5’8 southern kid with shaggy dirty blond hair and an evil glint in his eyes and an apparent love for making Peter Parker suffer. 

The tour guide would come in the form of one Harley Keener. 

How did he know this?

Well despite only being fifteen Harley was at MIT- he wanted to skip the whole, high school thing, something Peter was not jealous of but was also totally jealous of because something about life experience or something- and therefore had more free time on his hands. Free time to what? Free time to concox embarrassing plots to mortify peter in front of all his friends. 

Such as being! The! Tour! Guide! 

Which was going to be absolutely miserable. He could feel it in his gut. This was going to be a terrible, awful, no good, very bad field trip.    
  
  


“Well guys,” Mr. Harrington grinned at the group, “Who’s excited?” 

The class shifted awkwardly, no one really saying anything, And Mr. Harrington sighed, “Yeah that's what I thought. Either way, you guys remember that when your up there you’ll be under supervision by the guide only?” 

Everyone muttered to themselves lazily, and Ned shot a look at Peter, “Do you think…?

“Yes.” 

“Wait really?” 

“Yeah.”

“What are you on about Parker,” Flash called from the other side of the group, “Talking about how you’re about to get busted for lying about the Stark internship?”

“No, no,” Peter shook his head, “I’m dreading something much worse.” 

“Dude, common,” Ned rolled his eyes at his friend, “Harley’s not that bad.” 

“He’s the devil!” 

MJ looked up from her book with a raised brow, “Who’s Harley?” 

“Howdy, y’all,” A voice called from the front of the group, “I’ll be your guide today!” 

Peter slunk behind Ned, “So it begins.” 

“My names Harley,” he grinned at the group, winking at Ned, and taking note of Peter cowering behind him, “And I’m Tony Stark’s personal intern, but due to the fact that the other personal intern decided to ditch work in favor for school, I’ve been dragged all the way up here from my comfy little life at MIT to give you good folks a tour!” 

He called out loud, “So everyone if you could please form a line so I can give you your ID’s because we here at Stark industries,” He made a mocking voice, “Value safety above all else- if you can believe that.” 

Everyone blinked at the force of pure evil that was Harley, but compiled. Peter stayed hidden and safe behind Ned, as the line shuffled forward. 

“Thompson, Eugene,” Harley read out, “Wowie, you didn’t tell me his name was Eugene, Petey babe.” 

The line froze and Peter groaned, poking his head out from behind Ned, “I didn’t tell you anything, Harley!” 

“You told me everything,” Harley grinned, “You can be very talkative on thirty minutes of sleep.” 

Peter groaned again, hiding his face in Ned’s back as the class processed what just happened, and Harley happily continued to call out names. 

Before he got to Ned though, he cleared his throat, “Now you’ll notice that you all have green passes- those passes are for visitors only. If you somehow get separated from the tour, please locate someone with an Orange pass- those are security. If someone has a purple pass, they’re a worker, and you shouldn’t bother them. Of course a select few have red and gold passes- cheesy I know, but hey, the old man is getting old, he doesn’t have that much creativity left- and those guys are like me, all access. Understood?” 

The classes nodded, and Harley smiled, getting out a red and gold pass, “Nedward, my dear?” 

“Yo wait,” Ned’s eyes were wide, “I have an all access pass?” 

“Courtesy of me,” Harley rolled his eyes, “And a gift from Tony himself.” 

“For?” 

Harley’s Cheshire grin widened, “Okay so I might have lied, and I might have granted you an all access pass on a whim of ‘two hours of sleep in three days and and more coffee than is legally aloud’, but hey, what's important here,” He winked at Ned, and then at  _ Peter _ , “Is that you have a pass to get through the building.” 

Peter shuffled forward, as Ned moved to the other side, observing the pass. Peter stood there, as Harley looked at him expectantly, “Hey Harley.” 

“Petey babe,” Harley tsked, “Where’s your badge?” 

“I didn’t bring it..”

“You didn’t- you didn’t bring it?” That glint of pure chaos was back in his eye, “Oh Petey, that’s too bad…” 

“Harley-” 

“I’ll have to issue you a new one.” 

“Oh god no-” 

“Ooooh, French Fri!” Harley brought out his phone, contacting the AI, “Will you please enact ‘bitch boy’ protocol and get ready to enforce it if need be?” 

Peter sighed, “God dammit Harley.” 

“You’re the dumb ass that agreed to this Peter.” 

Peter stared at him. Harley stared back. The class watched on in confusion, “Do I have to?” 

“We made a pact, Petey babe,” Harley’s grin must have hurt it was so wide, “And unless you want me to tell Tony about the time with the Spider-suit prototype and the jello then, yes, yes you do.” 

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck Harley Keener. 

Peter took a deep breath, “I, Peter Parker, Am a little bitch boy. Just a tiny bitch boy. The bitchiest of all boys, and the worst of all. I forgot my badge, which will make Happy very very mad, and that’s why I’m the bitchiest of all bitch boys.”

“Thank you,” Harley nodded, producing a badge out of mid air, “And that is why, my dear Petey, you never steal my goddamn popcorn.” 

“Oh my god,” Peter ran a hand across his face, “Are you trying to fucking tell me that because I ate the last bag of popcorn you skipped class at MIT to come be the tour guide on my field trip to SI, knowing I would forget my badge and enforce something we agreed on when we were both running on like, twenty minutes of sleep?” 

Harley blinked innocently, “Why Petey, I would never!” 

“You’re an asshole, Keener.” 

Harley just winked, “Same to you, Parker, same to you.” 

Peter shuffled over to his other classmates, groaning under their wide eyes. This was going to take a lot to explain. And it wasn’t necessarily like he hadn’t told them about the Stark internship. He just hadn’t told them about Harley fucking Keener. 

Because really, how could he tell anyone about Harley Keener?

Harley Keener was like a masterpiece set to AC/DC. Like a Van Gogh painting that was burnt at the edges from thieves. Like classical music being performed by a punk rock band. Harley Keener was Harley Keener, and he was awful and horrible and no good and absolutely perfect. 

Harley Keener was the devil with a smile and good attitude, and it sucked, but the real reason why Peter was so mortified by this was because he was Peter’s crush now harassing him in front of everyone he knew. Including the AcaDeca team. The only people on earth who knew Peter’s true type to be pretty people with a sharp tongue and clever eyes. Meaning that he would never hear the end of this. 

Harley cleared his throat, gaining the attention of everyone who’s eyes were staring holes into Peter’s head, “Alright y’all, time for the official tour now that you’ve all gotten your passes. So if you please follow me to the elevators, we’re going to start at the bottom and make our way to the top.” 

That shit eating grin never left his face.    
  


Harley led them to the 5th floor, exiting the elevator first, “This is the first stop on our tour which will end at floor fifty, and this one we won’t be spending a lot of time in due to the nature of its contents- yes, Mr. Thompson?” 

“Um,” Flash put his hand down awkwardly, “I thought we were going to the top.” 

Harley smiled at flash, and winked, “Clever one aren’t you, Lightning bug?” 

Flash blushed at the nickname, and Harley grinned deeper, sending Peter a look (™) and Peter was dreading what came next (and was also feeling a little bit of hatred for the nickname Flash had been given), “The top ten floors of the tower are living spaces. Each Avenger gets their own floor, and the top three are for Tony and Tony’s family. Though I’m sure y’all already know all of this- considering Peter has a room.” 

“Um,” Peter squealed as his class turned to stare at him with wide eyes, “I don’t really use that room? My apartment isn’t that far away.”   
  
“Yeah I know, I know,” Harley’s grinned was back at that cheshire stage, “Personally I think you just don’t like to admit that you’re practically family.” 

Peter rolled his eyes, “If I’m practically family, you are his family then.” 

“Well he did break into my garage… I’m pretty sure he just found you on the streets looking like a kicked puppy and forced you to make Spider-Man’s stuff.” 

Oh fuck, Harley Keener. 

Cindy turned to him with wide eyes, “So you make Spider-Man’s stuff?” 

“Harley… uh… Harley helps?” 

He put his head down, feeling his ears go red from the sudden attention on him. Harley, the little devil, gave him some mercy, “Anyway, this is floor fifty- this floor is purposed for R&D’s labrotores, and because we don’t want any Oscorp spies, let's make this a quick trip through the labs, shall we?” 

He led them through the labs on the floor, waving to the people in them who all smiled at him and waved before smiling at Peter, “So these labs are unlike the labs we’ll visit later today, and are for the research and design department- if you look on your left you’ll see our team of specialists working on new designs for the new stark industries prosthetic's which will include, leg, arm, and hand prosthetic's. We’re also working on new hearing aids and other ways to help those who are hard of hearing.” 

“And on your right,” Harley motioned to the other lab, “You’ll see a lab more dedicated to the development of technologies.  We’re making more Stark phones, updating policies, and trying to make technology as a whole better.” 

He led the class through the stairs, “Here on the sixth floor is developmental energy research. Anyone have any questions?” 

Several hands raised, and Harley pointed at Abe, “Stark industries is producing prosthetics?” 

“Oh yeah,” Harley motioned with his hands, “We’ve been working on making affordable prosthetics that are high quality for awhile now.” 

“That’s… cool.” 

“And you’re also making Hearing aids?” MJ raised a brow, “All of these things are products SI’s never put out before, right?” 

“Yeah,” Harley nodded along with her words, before gesturing to himself, “Tony found out how much hearing aids costed me and got pissed so he wanted to find a way to make them cheaper for the public while still producing high quality results. Last year when Rhodey- er, Colonel Rhodes- lost mobility, Tony started drafting ways to have him be able to walk. Right now we’re focusing on how to make the technology accessible to the public without cutting corners.”

MJ nodded, satisfied with his answer and Harley motioned for them to follow him through the building back to the elevators, “The next stop on our tour is going to be the PR department.” 

Harley was playing at something. Peter didn’t know what he was playing at, but he was playing at something. He could tell. 

He just hoped it wasn’t too embarrassing.    
  


“And this brings us to the second to last stop,” Harley’s grin was wide and evil as Peter realized what room they were going into, “Welcome to the real lab.” 

The doors opened with a woosh, and they all shuffled into a cozy looking space that had stuff thrown all about it. Peter immediately went over to his desk, moving all of the pictures he had of the AcaDeca team off the desk and praying to god no one saw it. 

But Harley did, “Awww, Petey babe, embarrassed that you have photos of your beloved nerd team on your desk?” 

“Shut up!” He made a strangles noise as the class looked at him, “I do not!” 

“Hold on,” Flash shot him a raised eyebrow, “Please don't tell me you have pictures of me on your desk like some stalker.” 

Peter wanted to bash his head in. This was it. This was how he died. 

Because a moment later, Harley, who had been flirting with flash this entire time let out a chuckle, “How do you think I knew about you? Or the Nerd squad? Literally y’all are his excuse when he doesn’t wanna come into work!” 

“Harley!” 

“He has such high opinions of everyone in this room,” Harley continued, stepping away from Peter as the boy considered lunging at him, “He’s even told Spider-Man about how awesome you guys are!” 

“I’ll shoot you!” 

“Can’t,” Harley short him a grin, “I took those prototype webs out of here to show Tony last night!” 

“You little-“ 

Flash looked pale, “This is Peter’s personal lab?” 

“Oh yeah,” Harley nodded, “Or at least the one we share. I have my own lab downstairs for testing prototypes but this is concept, engineering, and design.” 

“So what’s his job exactly?” 

“I’m a personal intern,” He shot Harley a silencing glare, “For Mr. Stark, meaning that I design products for those who Mr. Stark is mentoring-“ 

“Pfft,” Harley laughed, “You make it sound so lame. The old man think of you as a kid dude-“ 

“You’re more his kid than I am!” 

“Well yeah,” Harley rolled his eyes at him, “I’ve known him longer, but you’re the protege he gets to see all the time.” 

“Yeah but you’re already going to his alma mater.” 

“And you’re the one helping out Spider-Man on a weekly bases.” 

“Yeah but-“ 

Flash held up a hand, “So wait, Peter works with Spider-Man?” 

“Honestly those two,” Harley grinned at him and Peter felt his gut sink, “Are practically dating.” 

Silence. 

Ned and Harley exchanged a look. Peter and Ned exchanged a look. Harley grinned at Peter’s glare. 

Chaos erupted. 

“You’re dating Spider-Man-“ 

“Spidey would never go for a guy like-“ 

“That’s a lie! That’s has to be a-“ 

“Spider-Man is a bicon-“ 

“All right everyone!” Harley boomed over the chaos, holding back snickers, “If you could please follow me!” 

He headed the crowd of gossiping teenagers back into the hallways that held the elevators, “We have one more stop on the tour before we can-“ 

“Red alert,” Friday's voice was loud and booming, “Red Alert. This is not a drill. The upper west side has been breached. Please reach your nearest safe zone immediately.” 

The crowd quieted, and Harley cursed loudly, before turning to the group, “Okay guys! We need to get back into that lab-“ 

“Harley,” Friday’s voice was still loud on the speaker coms, “They’re two floors above you and going down fast. They seem to be looking for something. Do not engage. Get to the safe zone immediately.” 

“Fuck, fuck, okay,” Harley pointed at Peter, “Peter, get everyone to the safety zone-“ 

“Harley, whatever you’re thinking, don’t!” Peter knew that look on his face. 

“Just get everyone to the safe zone right now. I’m gonna work on the lock.” 

“What?” 

“Tony’s a dumbass,” Harley shouted across the chaos as Peter coraled his classmates and teacher into the safest corner of the lab, “He took off the lock that one time when he caught me blowing shit up without his permission just- get everyone into the panic room!” 

Peter shoved through the group of teens, cursing under his breath, “Fuck, fuck, this isn’t good.” 

He unlocked the lever on the floor, holding it open, “Everyone get inside- Ned!” 

“What can I do to help?” Ned’s voice was panicked, but Peter shook his head, “The code to get out is my birthday- don’t come out until Friday tells you too-“ 

The sounds of bullets going through glass had everyone screaming, and Peter stood up, taking in the scene before him. Four masked men. Harley on the floor. Blood pooling. No visible bullet wound but he was clearly injured. One of the men bent down, grabbing Harley by the neck, “This the kid?” 

The guy holding a now struggling Harley grabbed his ID, “This is the kid.” 

Peter shoved Flash and Ned through the door to the panic room, slamming it shut, “Hey assholes!” 

“Who the fuck is that kid?” The guy who looked to be the leader looked at the two others, “Whatever I don’t give a fuck- shoot him.” 

He spun back behind a desk as the bullets flew, and he was so grateful for the bullet proof desk. He stood again, running towards them- until the guy holding Harley placed a gun to the side of his head, “Come any closer and we blow him to bits.” 

“Don’t listen to him,” Harley shouted, “I’m fine! Get in the panic room!” 

“Well guys,” Peter put his hands up, thinking of how to pacify these guys without getting Harley hurt, and in a smooth motion he lunged for the freeze ray, and in the same breath shot at two of the guys, “You should really chill out!” 

“Holy fucking shit,” The guy not holding Harley screamed, “He just fucking murdered Dan and Blake!” 

Harley scoffed, “That's right you sorry son of a bitch, let me go or he’ll ice y’all too.” 

The truth of the matter that the freeze ray was non lethal. Originally designed by a Shield science team under the name ‘Fitzsimmons’, and recreated to freeze but not kill under the badass SI interns under the name ‘Parkner.’ Or at least that’s what Friday had taken to calling them. 

They would eventually thaw but… the other’s didn’t have to know that. 

“Like fucking hell he will,” The guy holding Harley moved so he had him in a headlock, making Harley a human shield, “Not if he doesn’t want you to get iced with me! I need this fucking money!”  

And Peter didn’t want that. Mainly because while icing didn’t kill it did hurt like a bitch- and they weren’t exactly sure how to work out how to make it not knock off a few fingers. And Peter liked Harley’s hands just the way they were. So Peter did the next most logical thing. He pointed the gun at the other guy, “Dude, let Harley go, or your friend becomes the next Capsicle.” 

“Please don't ice me,” The guy was begging, and Peter almost felt bad for him. Then he remembered they were here to kidnap his friend, “I swear to god we weren’t going to do this and then-“ 

“Shut up Mark!” The guy holding Harley growled. 

Mark kept talking, “I don’t even like Nazis- they just hired us and we needed the money and please don’t kill me, my daughters sick, and that’s why we need the money-“ 

“Nazis hired you?” 

“Mark!” The guy growled again, grip on Harley tightening making the boy let out a yelp, much to Peter’s worry, “Shut up! Right now!” 

“Give it up, Dave,” Mark pulled off his mask, “Kid, we accepted a deal with Hydra, to get some money and shit to help our respective issues- there request was to get a kid- Keener, Harley Keener- I didn’t want to I swear to god I don't mess with kids but my daughter she's sick and I don't fucking like nazi’s please just let me live- or something-” 

“You fucking idiot!” Dave screached, “Now they’re going to have to fucking kill us! You ratted! You fucking dumbass!” 

Harley gasped out a breath, “Shouldn’t have worked with fucking Nazi’s!” 

“Shut up,” Dave growled, pressing the gun harder into Harley’s head, “I don’t wanna fucking die like that!” 

“Put down the gun,” Peter told him, trying to sound authoritative, eye’s never leaving where the gun met Harley’s skull, “And we can get you protection.” 

“There is no protection!” The guy was screaming, and even with the mask Peter knew he was losing it. He needed to get Harley out of there, now, “Not from them! They’ll get the kid! They’ll get me! They’ll get everyone!” 

Peter could almost see the thought process in the guys head. It was in his eyes, the next moves. But Peter didn’t know how to stop him. Peter didn’t know how to do anything, he was frozen in fear and shock and pure  _ panic  _ as Dave shot the window out and took a run. He seemingly didn’t even notice that Harley was still under his arm, dragging and being choked. But Peter did, and so did Harley. 

Harley was always faster than Peter in reaction, so he ducked hard, pushing himself away from his assailant. But objects in motion stay in motion, and as Dave plumented through a window, Harley stumbled to a stop, his converse squeaking across the floor as the bottom half of his body slid out the window, “Peter!” 

Peter didn’t panic this time, as he lunged for Harley grabbing his arms and pulling him towards him, “I got you!” 

Harley shook like a leaf in his grasp and it was only then he realized how scared Harley must have been. Peter was faced with situations like this every day, but Harley- despite technically having the Iron Rescue armor- wasn’t ever in field combat. Peter held him tighter, “I got you, Harley, I got you.” 

“Fuck,” Harley let off a breath, burying his face in Peter’s chest, “This is not how I wanted this to go, fuck…” 

“I know,” Peter shushed him, eyes checking over him as he pulled away slightly, “Are you okay?” 

“No,” Harley let out a humorless laugh, “The glass spray earlier hit my back. I was just threatened. And Hydra wants me.” 

“Why does Hydra want you?” Peter muttered. 

“Um,” the Mark assialgent held his hands up, “We weren’t given much but I promise I’ll say what I know.” 

Harley lifted his head up, glare on his face and voice sharp and chipped, “You do not get to talk. Not right now. Tony will talk to you.”

“Understandable,” he stood there awkwardly. 

“Fri,” Harley was still looking upset as he looked towards the ceiling, “Where’s Tony?”   
  
“His ETA is four minutes,” Her voice held a calming quality that peter very much needed right now, “Paramedics will be here in twenty, Harley. Do you wish me to alert Ned that it’s safe now?” 

Peter shuffled Harley and him a little further away from the blasted open window, “Yeah. Yeah. you think you can stand?” 

“Hold on,” Harley hissed pulling back from Peter a little more, “My back is killing me, dude, there’s no way I’m gonna be able to stand without support.”

Peter nodded, “Okay. Alright. We’re just gonna lie here for a bit until Tony gets here. 

The soft hiss of the panic room door let out and Ned clambered over, eyes wide, “Harley! Oh my god, are you okay?” 

“Has 911 been called?” MJ rushed over, before stopping and blinking at the full scene, “Are those two guys frozen?” 

“Yeah,” Harley clenched his eyes, and Peter could tell that the adrenaline from being thrown out a window was wearing off, and all that was left in its place was pain from his back, “They needed to let it go.”

Peter huffed, brow furrowing, “You were literally almost thrown out a window, and you’re making Frozen puns?” 

“Better than saying they need to chill out.”

“Wait a second,” Flash pointed at the two guys with concerned eyes, “Parker did that?” 

Peter flushed, “Um…” 

“To be fair,” Harley coughed loudly, trying and failing to sit up, only to buckle and have Peter catch him, “They had a gun to my head and were threatening to shoot him.” 

“Yeah,” Peter nodded at Harley’s words, helping to guide him up, “I didn’t really have a choice.” 

Tony stormed into the room, mask down with a look of pure rage on his face. The room was buzzing but went silent at the look on Iron Man’s face. The assailant gulped, but Tony shot him a glare and sent a jolt from his hand, knocking the guy out. He turned to the group, “Are all of you okay?” 

There were mumbled nods, and Tony turned his attention to the two kids on the floor, the suit opening up for him to rush out, “Kid-” 

“I’m fine,” Harley insisted, despite the fact that he was still being held up by Peter, “We have bigger fish to fry.” 

“You need medical aid.” 

“Tony-” 

“Fri, how far away are the paramedics?” 

“They’re two floors below you, estimated time of arrival in two minutes-” 

“Tony!” Harley snapped, “We have to worry about something else!” 

“Kid,” Tony’s voice revealed all the concern that his angry face was hiding, “You’re hurt- what could be more important than that.” 

“Hydra.” 

Tony blinked, “Hydra?” 

“Yeah,” Harley hissed as he separated from Peter, stumbling as he attempted to stan- which Peter quickly stood and helped him up, wrapping an arm around his waist to keep him stable- and he looked at Tony, “That’s whose after me.” 

“Hydra is after you?” 

“Hydra is after me,” Harley leaned into Peter a little more, “And I want to know  _ why _ .”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Okay this is getting really fucking annoying.”
> 
> Peter resisted a laugh, “Oh?”
> 
> “Shut up,” Harley shot him a glare, “And take that stupid mask off. We’re alone, Parker, you don’t need to be suited up.”
> 
> “Oh no can do, Harls,” He didn’t want to admit how much he was enjoying Harley squirm with all the extra TLC he was receiving, “Mr. Stark put me on protection detail until this whole Hydra fiasco is sorted out.”
> 
> “Which,” Harley made a noise of protest, “I should be able to help investigate!”
> 
> Peter actually did laugh at this time, “You think you can hack Hydra?”
> 
> “Obviously,” he rolled his eyes at him, before plopping back down on the roof edge, overlooking the city, “I’ve hacked Wakanda. If I wanted too, Hydra is as good as mine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me?? posting at 4 am after stairing at a blank doc and cranking out abt... 4,000 words?? in two hours??? yuh
> 
> uh so this is- unbeta'd and written in two hours. plus like. im just?? kinda feeling shitty abt my writing in general.

“Okay this is getting really fucking annoying.” 

Peter resisted a laugh, “Oh?” 

“Shut up,” Harley shot him a glare, “And take that stupid mask off. We’re alone, Parker, you don’t need to be suited up.” 

“Oh no can do, Harls,” He didn’t want to admit how much he was enjoying Harley squirm with all the extra TLC he was receiving, “Mr. Stark put me on protection detail until this whole Hydra fiasco is sorted out.” 

“Which,” Harley made a noise of protest, “I should be able to help investigate!” 

Peter actually did laugh at this time, “You think you can hack Hydra?” 

“Obviously,” he rolled his eyes at him, before plopping back down on the roof edge, overlooking the city, “I’ve hacked Wakanda. If I wanted too, Hydra is as good as mine.” 

“You did not hack Wakanda!”   
  
“Didn’t I?” Harley dragged a hand over his face, “Either way… back to the topic at hand- I do not need a babysitter.” 

“I’m not a babysitter,” Peter wanted to laugh again at how over dramatic Harley was being, “I can’t babysit someone who’s older than me!” 

“Not true,” Peter glanced at where Harley was pouting, “You, being a superhero, are babying me, who is not a superhero. Yet.”

Yet, was a foreshadowing word that Peter had… many questions about. He had seen the Friday dubbed ‘Iron Lad’ designs that Harley fell asleep on. It was cute, how Harley worked on them so late into the night that when Peter came into the lab in the morning he was still passed out on them. He would always have to carry Harley to the couch… he looked so tired and peaceful… Peter always felt… he shook his head away from those thoughts. 

The point was that Harley had plans. And if Peter had heard correctly, Tony did not approve of those plans at all. The yelling that sometimes happened when they thought he was out of earshot of the lab, was a good indicator. It was like Tony really didn’t want Harley actually out on the field. The rescue armor he had was strictly last use- and Peter could only guess that pissed Harley off to no end. 

“Whatever dude,” Peter rolled his eyes at him, “You’re honestly pretty lucky- you don’t have to go to school, you’re constantly with someone, you’re hanging with the avengers.” 

“Sure,” Harley rolled his eyes, as if in response to Peter’s own eye roll, “Because having to be interrogated by Captain fucking America on ‘Why does Hydra want you? What do you mean you don’t know? Why would they want you?’ is supper fun. Besides it makes me feel like I’m juts a princess, waiting for a prince to save me-” 

“Oh my god,” Peter breathed out, wheezing, “Princess Harley Keener!” 

Harley shot him a glare, “In the words of the great cheetah girls themselves, ‘I don’t wanna be no Cinderella, sitting around in a dusty cellar, waiting for somebody~ to come and rescue me~ don't wanna be no, no, no, one else, I’d rather rescue myself’” 

“Dude,” Peter couldn’t stop laughing at Harley’s singing, “That was fantastic. That was amazing. That was better than the original-” 

“Peter Parker, do not blaspheme-”

“I’m just saying-” 

“You better not be-” 

“No but seriously,” Peter was trying to control his giggles, “You have a pretty decent voice.” 

Harley grew a weird look on his face, “Not really. Besides that was me not even trying.” 

“Dude, if that was you not trying, I’d love to see it when you try.” 

“Shut up,” Harley looked away from him, and Peter thought he saw a blush on his cheeks, “Either way, the point of this entire conversation, is that I do not want to be babied like this. I’m not some fragile princess- I’m the Jasmine of this story.” 

“Jasmine?” 

“Hey now,” Harley looked back at him again, “She was a bad ass. She used everything she could when she could. She like… tried to distract Jafar so that Aladdin could steal the lamp back. That's bad ass.” 

Peter held his hands up, “That's fair.” 

“Either way,” Harley looked away again, and Peter was starting to suspect that something was up, “I don’t want to be trapped like this.” 

“You’re not trapped!” Harley shot him a look, “Okay so you’re being watched over twenty four seven. So what? It’s not like, I don’t know, Hydra is after you.”

“So what Hydra is after me.” 

“I’m hoping you’re joking.”

“I’m not.” 

“Harley,” Peter’d voice was quiet and serious, “They won’t mess up again. Hydra is dangerous. Look at what they did to.. well… everything.”

“I can take care of myself, Peter.” 

Peter knew that he could. Harley did know how to fight. He had the rescue armor, and the draft of the Iron Lad armor. He wouldn’t let anyone get the jump on him again but… 

He didn’t want to admit it, but after the fact… he couldn’t get the image of Harley having a gun pressed against his head, way more than an arms length away, about to be shot, with no way for Peter to stop it. It made him feel bad. Very bad. Super bad. Like. Helplessly bad. 

In the moment, he felt like he had been fairly calm. Harley had been too. But maybe that was the fact that they both knew that nothing good would come out of either of them freaking out. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t freaked out by it. If he had been a second late, Harley would have been tossed out the window. It has been a week and it was still all he could imagine. He honestly wondered how Harley was handling it. He had never been in a situation like that at all- and if Peter and the rest of the avenger’s had anything to say about it he would never happen again. 

He shook his head, “But you shouldn’t have too.”  

“So what?” 

“So we care about you and want to see you safe?” 

“I’m gonna be honest with you here, Pete,” Harley spoke plainly any emotion he had hidden by false bravado, “I just want to figure out why, safety be damned.” 

“Uh,” Peter was very tempted to call Tony and tell him what Harley had just said- if only to get him in trouble, “Safety not be damned? That’s not a thing? That you should ever say?”

“Why not?” 

“Because your safety is important,” Peter pointed out to him, “You are important.” 

Harley looked at him, eyes itching to know something that Peter wasn’t even sure he knew. A slow pink coated his face, but that could have just been the sunset, “So are you.” 

“I know. It’s why I’m being safe and taking care of myself.” 

“Honestly, Peter,” Harley broke eye contact and Peter found himself missing the color, “I just don’t wanna deal with this anymore. It’s been a week.” 

“A week is not enough time to be safe from Hydra.” 

“It should be.” 

“It’s  _ not.”  _

“I just don’t want to deal with this,” Harley huffed, “I’m getting real tired of everyone acting like I should know why they want me and what’s happening and keeping me out of the loop of what’s going on even though I can help.” 

Peter shook his head, “but that could put you in more danger and I- er, we- won’t allow that.” 

“It’s not up to you.” 

The words weren’t a hiss- on the opposite actually. It was probably the softest tone of voice Harley had willingly shown Peter. There was something layered in it, like Harley just had the realization of his life. The way the words where whispered, as if a secret only Harley could know was like a punch in the gut. 

Here was Harley Keener. Harley Keener who was loud. Harley Keener who was ambitious. Harley Keener that had more venom than honey, but could trick you into thinking it was the other way around. Harley, a blue eyed devil that had so much angel in him that it hurt Peter’s head to think about. Harley, who never ever spoke softly. Not if he could help it. 

It freaked him the fuck out.

“What do you,” He swallowed, confused, “What do you mean.” 

Harley looked at him with sharp, intelligent eyes, and Peter really couldn't help the blush that came onto his face, even though Harley’s fists were clenched and his jaw was tight, “I think I have a theory and if I’m right, its really not up to anyone.” 

“Whats your theory?” 

“They’re not trying to get me,” Harley glanced away, scanning the skyline for an unknown danger, and he got to his feet, “They’re trying to hurt Tony.” 

Oh.

_ Oh.  _

That made… a lot of sense. Tony was probably one of the only people alive that could figure out that to kill a hydra you don’t cut off its head. You burn it. And now that things had cooled down and their attention was no longer solely on Hydra, it made sense they would go after the one person who could gather all the resources to actively kill them. 

Except they couldn’t go directly after him- Tony was a well known figure, and now that he had been a voice for former alcoholics, they couldn’t even blame it on a DOI. They had no way to get to him. So what would they do? Get to people that they knew he was close with. But how did they get the information? 

It seemed like Harley’s mind was going as fast as Peter’s, “Holy fuck, Pete, I was in SHIELD files from the Mandarin incident.” 

“Oh,” Peter felt his eyes widen, “That's how they knew you two were close.” 

“My family was in that document.” 

“That's not good,” Peter muttered under his breath, standing as well, grabbing Harley by the waist, “We have to get to the tower.” 

Harley just nodded, looping his arms around Peter’s neck. Peter ignored the feeling of his arms around his waist and swung towards the tower. They had to tell Tony.   
  
  


“So,” Cindy drawled out the ‘o’, “How’s Harley Keener?” 

Peter tensed, a blush creeping up his neck, “What?” 

“Harley Keener?” Cindy raised a brow, clearly knowing exactly what she was doing, “About yay tall, was our tour guide, almost fell out a window?”    
“He’s uh,” Peter didn’t know how to say freaking out about the possibility that his baby sister was in danger, “He’s good?” 

MJ snorted, “Whats with the blush, Petey-Babe?” 

The entire decathlon team- except Peter himself- burst out laughing. Peter put his head down on the desk, “You guys are assholes.” 

“No,” Ned grinned at him, “We’re just nosy.” 

“Is he okay by the way?” Betty tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, “I can’t imagine that its easy coping after being nearly tossed out a window and kidnapped.” 

Peter shrugged, “For normal people it wouldn’t. For Harley…” 

He let that imply what it would, but if he was honest he was worried. He had been taken off Harley duties when the revelation that Harley and his family were in danger because they were friends of Tony Stark’s. In fact, as far as Peter knew, Harley was supposed to be on the Barton’s farm. 

Which kinda sucked but, hey, whatever kept him safe.  

Peter didn’t mind not being able to text… or call… or talk… to Harley while he was on lock down. He totally didn’t mind it. Not at all. 

“Damn, he’s one tough kid,” MJ shook her head, “Its no wonder you’re in love with him.” 

“I am not in love with him-” 

“Oh that's right,” Ned grinned, trying to cause as much chaos as he could because all of Peter Parker’s friends were assholes, “He said you and Spider-Man were practically dating."

“Shut up!” 

“Wait so does that mean Keener is on the market?” Flash raised a brow at him, turning his chair to face Peter. 

What. The. Fuck. 

Literally, all it was was one question, and yet he wanted to punch Flash’s lights out. Which was dumb. He had no right to Harley or who Harley liked but Jesus Christ if he didn’t want to scream at Flash that Harley was his- even though him and Harley were not dating and Harley could one hundred percent make his own choices.   
  
He bit the side of his cheek and almost spat back an answer- but Betty beat him too it with an eye roll and a sigh, “As if a guy like Harley Keener- who mentioned that he’s already in MIT- would go for a guy like you.”    


Flash flushed, his cheeks growing darker with anger, “Oh yeah- and you think he’d like a girl like you? We’ve all seen your type,” He motioned to Ned, “And a guy like Harley is a little… out of your league.” 

Betty went as red as the top she was wearing, and looked away from the group crossing her arms. Ned looked at her with wide eyes, hope in them. Peter wanted to bash his head in- how come his friend got the girl of his dreams but the boy of his was currently being hit on by Flash fucking Thompson. 

“Um,” Peter wanted to say something cool, something smart, something that would show Flash that  _ he  _ was the one who deserved Harley’s time of day, “Harley isn’t allowed to date while he’s on lock down.” 

Ugh. Of course he fucked that up. 

“Damn,” Flash shrugged, as the rest of the room chortled at Peter’s obvious failure to be smooth, “When he gets out of lock down- give him my number, tell him its  _ lightening bug.” _

Peter shot him a glare, “You realize Harley just  _ gives _ people nicknames right? It doesn’t mean he likes you.” 

“Ooooh, Peter’s jealous,” Flash’s grin was large and stupid and Peter hated it, “Probably because he knows Harley was totally flirting with me.” 

Abe hit the bell, “Flash is incorrect- Harley was clearly flirting with Peter.” 

“Guys,” He wanted to bash his own skull in, “Can we like… not talk about Harley?” 

“Ashamed of your crush?” 

“Betty,” He hoped his voice was a warning but it came off as more of an embarrassed squeak, “I don’t have a crush on him.” 

MJ rolled her eyes at him, deadpanning at him, “Dude. Your more obvious than Netty Pot over there.” 

“What-” Ned spluttered, “Dude, I am not more obvious than Peter- he literally has one type and one type only.” 

“I do not!”

“Oh really?” Betty raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow at him, and then pulled back from the group shouting over to where Annabelle and Jamie were practicing on the other side of the gym, “Whats Peter’s type?” 

Annabelle looked confused, but shrugged it off, shouting back, “He like pretty people who can sass him- they usually have pretty eyes.”

Peter groaned at all of them, “You guys are bullies.” 

“We’re your friends, dumb ass.” 

“Well I hate you guys.” 

Ned frowned at him, “Wait so- are you and Harley gonna date?” 

“Harley doesn’t like me,” Peter looked down, “So nah. Probably not.” 

MJ looked towards the roof, “God-  _ Why  _ did you put him on earth if he was just gonna be this stupid?” 

“Its okay,” Betty patted his shoulder sympathetically, “Harley seems like the kind of guy where you can never truly tell what he’s feeling. I bet he does like you… just give it time.” 

“IF he doesn’t like you,” Flash butted in, “Which I bet he doesn’t- tell him I’d love to ask him out.” 

Peter made a face at him, “Flash, Harley may be gay but he doesn’t like assholes.” 

“You little shit-” 

His phone went off, and Peter answered it without looking, “Hello?”    


_ “Peter-” _ Harley’s voice cracked,  _ “We fucked up-”  _

“Harley?” He sat up straighter, “Harley- whats wrong? What happened?” 

There was mostly static on the other end for a second, and the entire gym went silent, all staring at Peter with wide eyes,  _ “They’re not after me because of Tony- Peter I fucked up.”  _

“Harley-”

_ “I left the safe house- I- I don’t know why- I just,”  _ More static and he motioned at Ned, mouthing the words ‘Call Mr. Stark,’  _ “Peter if what I think is about to happen actually happens I need you to know that I’m in love with you- I need you to know that.”  _

His face went red with a blush but his eyes were wide with panic, “Harley- you don’t- whats happening-” 

Static,  _ “-at’s why they want me, I’m so sorry. I don’t have a lot of time. I’m hiding in the woods right now and- you need to look after Abbie and mom and Tony- and I need you to know I’m in love with you and I think that you’re in love with me too- and I’m kinda rambling but I’m scared. I’m so fucking scared.”  _

“Breath, Harley,” He tried to remain calm even as Ned shook his head, showing that Tony hadn’t picked up, “You’ll be okay, tell me where you are-” 

_ “FUCK,”  _ There was a loud screaming, bangs- and Peter wanted to scream, he bolted up, “Harley! Harley! Harley- Can you hear me?! Harley?!”

There was more static, and Peter thought he was gonna scream, as he kept begging into the phone for Harley to answer him.    
  
_ “-m not going to fucking die here,”  _ Harley’s voice was a scream, “ _ Peter- Peter I love-“ _   
  
The line went dead. Peter made eye contact with Ned, sure he was crying. He blinked hard, calling Mr. Stark.    
  
Unlike before, Tony did answer, and Peters voice sounded like a sob, “TONY- They have- they have Harley!”

“ _ Kid- What?!”  _

“He just called me,” Peter was pacing, free hand tugging at his hair. Everyone crowded around him was watching in shock and panic, “That stupid fucking idiot left the safe house- and now- and now-“ 

He couldn’t find it in himself to say the words. 

Tony remained silent, before letting out a stream of profanities, “ _ Fri- track his last known location from Peters phone-“  _

“And hurry!” 

“ _ Pete, I’ll be coming to pick you up. Get ready. We’re going to look for him.”  _

Peter hung up with goodbye, fell to his knees, dug his hands in his hair and cried- the arms of his friends rushing around him. Even Flash was giving him comforting pats on the back.

Peter couldn’t feel any of it. Couldn’t see any of it. Couldn’t hear any of it. 

All he could hear was the screams of Harley Keener. 

 

“Don’t give up,” Tony touched his shoulder, sounding like he was going to give up himself, “We’ll find him.” 

Peter glanced up, he was sure he looked like hell. He hadn’t slept very much at all since Harley had been taken- his final moments on the call burnt like a brand, and every time he closed his eyes he could picture Harley,  _ his _ Harley, being taken and tortured. The worst part was not knowing what Harley had figured out. 

Karen had recorded the call and when they played it back, Harley had said something very funny. But not ha ha funny. More like- oh god they messed up so badly that Peter didn’t know how to cope with it so he was laughing hysterically. Harley said they got it wrong. That the reasons that they had thought Hydra was after him was wrong. 

And it was killing Peter to not know. 

Because what if it was something that would get him killed? What happened if by the time that they found Harley he was dead? What happened if Peter couldn’t save him? What happened if he never saw Harley again? What happened if when he did it was Harley’s corpse?

He couldn’t breath- he couldn’t do this. He couldn’t stand here with these images in his head of Harley’s death. It made him physically sick to think about. 

He looked at Tony, “I would do anything to get him back.” 

“You and me both, kid,” Tony muttered, pulling him into a hug, “You and me both.” 

Peter felt like an asshole. He couldn’t even imagine how much worse this was for Tony. Peter was losing a best friend, Peter was losing someone… more, he was losing a soulmate- but Tony? Tony had his son ripped away from his arms and protection.    
  
And now they couldn’t find him- which was so much  _ worse. _ This was all so much worse. 

“Tony,” Captain America rushed into the room, looking winded like he’d been struck, “We’ve got something-” 

Tony and Peter both shot up, Tony rushing to his friend, “You know where he is?!”   
  
“No but-” 

“But what?!” Peter interrupted, growing agitated, “What else is it- do we have info leading to where he is?”

Steve sent both of them a look, and they quieted, “We don’t know where he is but- we do know something else.” 

“What?” 

“Well…” He hesitated, “Its better Bucky tell you himself.”    
  


 

Bucky was sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at his hands in horror. The BARF he used for therapy was on the nightstand. When he looked up at Tony, his eyes were rimmed red with emotions- anger, sadness, fear. Tony looked like he needed to sit down. 

Peter just wanted to know. 

“I’m,” Bucky’s voice cracked, but he steeled his face, “I’m so sorry- I just- I just remembered it.” 

“What?” Tony whispered, sitting at the chair adjacent, “You just remembered what?” 

Peter blinked at the former assassin, “Mr. Barnes, you need to tell us.” 

“When- before Steve broke me out,” Bucky’s voice was clouded with emotions, despite the vacant stair on his face, “Maybe a week or two before, there was- there was talk. I honestly don’t remember all of it. But they had defrosted me to gather intel on my,” he hesitated again, “My programming.”

“No,” Tony’s voice held a horror of a father who put it together, “No- no, James, please tell me-” 

Peter didn’t get it- he didn’t understand what was happening, “What- what are you talking about?” 

“They wanted to know because,” He hesitated again, but his face remained void of emotion, “They wanted to know because they were hoping to develop a method to mold a younger mind- someone they could control better- someone with less fight- someone they could mold into an even better fighter- someone smarter than I was- and they had,” his voice cracked, “They had candidates they were showing.” 

Peter’s heart was in his ears, but Tony spoke for him, “James.. was…” 

“Harley Keener was their first choice,” His eyes flicked to Tony, and finally there was an emotion on his face- grief, “He was their first choice.” 

“Why?” Tony pressed his lips firm, brows set angrily, “Why was he their first choice?” 

Peter leaned forward, stomach in his throat, “Why would Hydra want him- he- Hydra is a nazi organization and Harley’s- Harley’s a hard of hearing, gay, jewish boy- why?” 

 

“I don’t-” Bucky shook his head, “They had a list of criteria. And he met everything. I don’t think they cared about the Hard of Hearing thing- and I don’t think they knew he was gay or jewish- they knew- they knew he had the highest IQ of anyone his age,” James’s eyes flickered to Tony, “They knew he knew the Iron Man schematics. They knew- they knew that he was mostly able bodied- and they knew-” He looked away from the group, “They knew a boy like him could be broken.” 

“What?” Peter couldn’t breath, “What do you mean a boy like him could be broken?” 

Tony looked at the ground, “Susceptible to abuse with people he cares about as leverage.” 

“And the added effect of him sharing a similar personality type to me,” Bucky still wasn’t looking at them, “Pre-War. The kind that would give a fight but could break. They’re not looking to break him easy.” 

“Fuck,” Tony breathed, his voice quiet, “Fuck.” 

“How do we-” Peter cleared his throat, “How do we find him?” 

Bucky paused, looking at Peter with an indecipherable look, “We might not be able to.”

“No.”

“Peter-” 

“He doesn't know I love him back,” Peter glanced up at Tony, not even trying to hide the tears streaming down his face, “And even more, he doesn’t deserve this. He doesn’t deserve this.” 

He turned back to Bucky, “So I want you to write a list of all the bases they could even  _ consider  _ doing this in. I want to find him.” 

“Okay,” Tony nodded, “Okay.” 

“We may not be able to-” 

“Bullshit,” He growled, for once not caring that he was cursing in front of the adults that mentor him, “I don’t care what Hydra wants from him- I refuse to give up. I refuse to not find him. Harley Keener isn’t going to become the next asset, and he’s not going to work for Hydra. I’ll save him. If its the last thing I do, I will save Harley Keener.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kill me, please
> 
>  
> 
> tho!! please tell me what you think!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Let’s start. актив пробудить. Укус Железного Волка. град гидра ”
> 
> “Is that supposed to make me do something? Because if so you’re doing a shitty ass job.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: I'm gonna post on sunday!   
> Also me: doesnt work on it all week and writes literally all of it on saturday 
> 
>  
> 
> hhhh i hope yall like it tho- im sorry the wait for it was so long

“Let’s start.  актив пробудить. Укус Железного Волка. град гидра ”

“Is that supposed to make me do something? Because if so you’re doing a shitty ass job.” 

“In due time Mr. Keener, you will come to realize what these words mean.” 

“How about fuck you.” 

“Oh, darling Mr. Keener, I will love breaking you.”

  
  


Fuck,” Peter punched the stone column of the training room in the compound, watching as it crumbled under his hands due to the force, “Two month and there’s fucking nothing- I can’t-” 

Tony placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, his face tired and sunken, “I know, kid. We’ll find him.”

“We’re not moving fast enough.” 

“We’re doing the best we can.” 

“Mr. Stark,” Peter swallowed down the voice crack, refusing to look Tony in the eye, “It’s been two months- he- what if he’s-”

“Don’t think like that, Kid,” He took the smaller boy in a tight hug, knowing how much he needed this. Or maybe it was Tony that needed a hug from a son. He didn’t think it mattered, “Harley’s a fighter. No matter how much they’ll try, Harley will fight until he physically can’t.” 

“What happens when he physically can’t?”

“That won’t happen,” Tony’s voice was firm, and what he hoped was reassuring. Peter doesn’t look reassured, but then again, Tony didn’t  _ feel  _ reassured at all, “We’ll find him.” 

“We need to be quicker.” 

A soft bitter silence rang between them, something tense and hard and bad and angry. They were both  _ angry.  _ Harley has been taken- and they hadn’t found him yet. They would, because they had to, but they hadn’t yet. And that made all the difference. 

For Tony, he lost a son. And he wasn’t sure when they found him that he would be the same boy- he refused to believe that Hydra could ever break him fully. He may be a perfect candidate but Harley Keener has a vibrancy about life and passion and stubbornness that would break the world one day. He… he’d fight back. And he’d win. Because he was Harley Tyler Keener and he was Tony Stark’s kid. 

It was different for Peter. 

He lost Harley before he ever really had him. But the overwhelming sense of loss is what killed him, is what did him under. He lost Harley.  _ Harley.  _ Harley, who made him smile. Harley, who had eyes like an angel. Harley, who didn’t deserve any of this shit. Harley who deserved to be held and kissed and loved and appreciated in ways that Peter could provide. That Peter could provide for him. 

In the silence they both knew they blamed themselves. Tony blamed himself because he should have protected Harley from day one. Harley was his  _ son.  _  And he had  _ let  _ him be taken by Hydra. Peter blamed himself for letting  _ go.  _ If he had just fucking insisted that Harley stay with  _ him,  _ stay where it was  _ safe  _ maybe he wouldn’t be kidnapped by Hydra. He was Spider-Man. He was a hero. And he couldn’t save the one boy who mattered the most to him? 

“We’ll find him,” Tony repeated himself, “And when we do we have to be ready.” 

  
  


“Let’s get started. актив пробудить. Укус Железного Волка. град гидра.”

“...”

“No witty remark, Mr. Keener?” 

“...Fuck off.” 

“You’re growing Weaker Mr. Keener. Thats good.” 

“Fuck you.” 

“актив пробудить. Укус Железного Волка. град гидра.”

“..I… I’m not doing this shit.” 

“You will.”   
  
  


“Parker,” Flash called out from  their classroom, “Come here for a sec.” 

Peter didn’t want to. He really didn’t want too. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with any of Flash’s usual shit and he definitely wasn’t in the mood to deal with Flashes bullshit. For the last three months he had been on near constant missions, trying to find Harley. Trying to save Harley. And there was always nothing. They always came back empty handed. And Peter was ready to scream. To fight. But he didn’t want to deal with Flash’s shit. 

He stood in front of Flash’s desk, “What, Flash?” 

“Relax, dude, I’m not here to fuck with you,” Flash’s brow furrowed and Peter watched as the other boy took on an almost concerned expression, “You need some fucking sleep, Parker.” 

Peter blinked. He wasn’t expecting that. 

Flash continued on, clearly not receiving an answer, “I know you’ve been trying to help find Harley- probably endangering yourself and making the real heroes look after you because you don’t know how to fight- but you gotta sleep dude. You gotta eat. This isn’t like when your uncle died, Peter, they’ll get Harley back.” 

“What do you know?” Peters voice cracked, “What do you know about  _ anything  _ Eugene?!” 

“I know how you destroy yourself in grief,” His voice was flat and unkind, blunt in a way Peter hadn’t realized he’d needed until now, “We all watch you nearly starve yourself to death last year when your uncle died. We all watched you sink farther into grief. Don’t get me wrong, Peter, I don’t like you at all. I think your arrogant. I think that you don’t have to work for anything at all where it matters, and it’s annoying. I think you’re trash. But my friends are your friends and whatever rivalry thing we’ve got going makes us sorta friends. So stop killing yourself in grief again. It’ll be okay.” 

“How do you know it will be okay?” 

“Because Spider-Man is working on it,” he shrugged and Peter felt like it was a punch to the gut, “That’s the only logical reason to why he hasn’t been in the neighborhood recently, so he must be working on it. And Spider-Man is amazing, he’s the only hero who I actually trust to do his job. He looks out for the little guy and helps save them. Right now Harley is the little guy. And Spider-Man will save him. Because that’s what Spider-Man does, Parker.” 

“How do you- how do you know Spider-Man will be able to save him?” 

“Because hes Spider-Man. Duh,” He rolled his eyes as if Peter was the stupidest person on earth, “Spider-Man is genuinely the only superhero that cares about people as an individual and not as a whole. I know that if my da-“ he paused biting back his words, “if I ever got seriously hurt, Spider-Man would be there to help me. Because he watches over the neighborhood and he helps people. Hell save Harley. He’s just good like that. So stop getting in their way and get some sleep, Parker.” 

“Do you- do you really think so highly of Spider-Man?” 

“Course- why don’t you think highly of him?” 

Peter paused. He didn’t have an answer to that. He couldn’t say because Spider-Man is me, because at this point he doubt that’d sway Flash’s opinion of the hero he held in such high regards. He genuinely had no answer. 

“Its cause you're a dumbass,” Flash helpfully supplied, “I hope you know that.” 

“Thanks Eugene,” Peter ignored the jab in favor of speaking honestly, “That means a lot. I’m sure Spider-Man will save him.” 

There was a small cough at the door, and both boys turned to face Abbie Keener. Peter blinked. He had forgotten that the thirteen year old was a freshman at Midtown this year on Tony’s request. She smiled a watery smile at him, “Hey Pete, you got a second?” 

“Course, Abbie,” he glanced at Flash, then went to go walk with Abbie, “What’s up kiddo?”

Abbie wrinkled her nose, “You’re only three years older than me, I’m not exactly a kiddo compared to you.” 

“Nope, you’re a kiddo.” 

“Okay well,” Abbie took a deep breath as they walked through the hallways, “I wanted to talk to you I guess.” 

“About?” 

She gave him a dry, Harley-esq look, and he flinched, “Yeah. Yeah I get it.” 

“I just,” she shifted her bag to the other shoulder as she put a hand in her right pocket, “Tony’s trying to spare me by keeping me in the dark, and I don’t have anyone to talk about all this shit with. I would talk about it to Miles but he doesn’t exactly know that everyone around me is a superhero, he’s just a normal kid. And I would talk about it with Lila but… I love my girlfriend, but her and her brothers aren’t that close or even friendly with each other at certain points. She wouldn’t get it.” 

Right. Because Abbie and Harley were very very close. It was kind of a byproduct of raising each other- because neglect with good intentions is still neglect- and just generally being similar to each other. They talked on the phone constantly, because they’d grown up knowing they couldn't trust anyone else. It was kind of the worst, their childhood, but it had ended up with them being extremely close and over protective of each other. 

“Of course you can talk to me about it,” He whispered to her, pulling her into a bone crushing hug. How could he forget about Abbie? Sure he and Tony missed Harley so more than anything in the world, but Harley was Abbie’s brother. He had been there for her her entire life, and now he was gone. Being fucked with by Hydra.

“I just,” She returned the hug with a force a girl her size shouldn’t have, “Are you gonna find him?”  

“We’ll find him,” Peter told her, mirroring what Tony had told him not too long ago, “And when we do we have to be ready to help him back.”

  
  


“Let’s begin. актив пробудить. Укус Железного Волка. град гидра.”

“Актив готов к программированию.” 

“Good. Good. Now we can begin the rest of the process. I told you that you would be fun to break, Iron Wolf.”

  
  


This is the last Hydra base that Bucky could think of. 

Which means it was their last real hope for Harley Keener. 

They storm the place as soon as they can, around twilight some random day after it had been four months without Harley. They don’t know what they’ll find or if they’ll fine anything at all, but the Russian base was their last hope. This was their last hope. 

The actual base itself was teeming with blood thirty hydra agents who wanted nothing more than to absolutely destroy the avengers. 

“Kid,” Tony shouted out to Peter, as he dodged the ray of a death gun, “Don’t mind the fight! Go find Harley! He’s here!”  

Peter webbed three hydra agents to the wall, using electric webs to subdue them and nick them out completely, “How do you know?!” 

“Friday scanned for his life signal!” Whatever type of death ray they were using was almost a match for his repulsors, and Tony cursed under his breath, “We don’t know where but it’s here! Go get him! We’ve got this!” 

Peter shot off like a bullet, swinging through the hallways as fast as he could. He needed to find Harley and he needed to find him now, he needed to save him. He tore through doors of solid steal and found a room full of nothing, with a set of doors on the other side. 

“Karen, do a sweep,” he walked towards the door, web shooters at ready, “Are we closer to his life force?” 

Her electronic voice took a few moments to respond, “Peter, I believe Harley is behind those doors. No one with him.” 

That was all he needed to hear. The doors were down within seconds and he stared at the scene in front of him. Harley was bolted down to a lab table staring at the ceiling blankly, all emotion and personality gone from his face. He breathed, “Oh Harley.” 

Harley looked at him, his eyes blank, “кто такой Харлей?” 

“No,” Peter whispered as he realized what had happened. They were too late. Harley was gone- he- he didn’t know what to do, “Oh baby, oh Harley I’m so so sorry.” 

“ты человек-паук,” Harley was making no means to break out of his restraints, and Peter moved forward hesitantly snapping the restraints. Harley made no attempt to move, “Актив должен убить Человека-паука.” 

“I’m so so sorry, Harley,” his voice broke. He had been to late. He had been to late to save the one boy who mattered most in the entire world. And now Harley, his Harley, was trapped behind the asset, and Peter wanted to cry. Instead he took Harley into his arms, pulling Harley to sit on his lap as he rocked him hack and forth on the floor, “I’m so sorry- it’ll- it’ll be okay, baby, alright?” 

“Отпусти меня,” Harley’s voice held confusion and Peter wanted to cry as he began struggling in his arms, “Актив должен убить Человека-паука.”

“Its okay, its okay,” He whispered into Harley’s hair, holding him tight enough that even his weak attempt to fight back against the grip was nulled, “I got you, its okay, its okay, Harls, its okay. I’ve got you baby. I love you. I’ve got you.” 

"Актив должен убить Человека-паука,” Harley repeated, but even still, he was growing softer in Peters arms, as if the fight drained out of him, “Актив должен убить Человека-паука.”

“I’ve got you. I’m not letting go of you.” 

“Отпусти меня.”

“I’m never letting go of you again, Harls, you’ll be okay. I’ve got you. I’ve got you. You’re safe.” 

“Kто такой Харлс?”

“I love you. I love you so, so, so, much, and I’m so so so sorry this happened. I love you, Harley Keener, I  love you.” 

“Любить?”

“You’re my entire world Harley.” 

“что ты мне говоришь- I- Peter-” Harley’s body sagged, “My head hurts- I- Актив закрывается.”

As the boy he loved went limp in his arms, Peter pulled away from him just slightly, just to look at his face, “Harley?” 

No response.   
  
“Baby, you- you’re,” Peter swallowed, “You’re gonna be okay, alright baby? I’ve got you. I’ve got you.” 

He looked up to where the Avengers had crowded around the doorway, and met eyes with each and everyone of them before stilling on Tony, and asking in the quietest most hurt voice he had ever heard himself speak in, “He’s going to be okay, right?”

  
  


“Let me see him.” 

Peter blinked at Abbie, his body stiff and tired. It’d been two days since they found Harley. It’d been two days since they realized it was too late. That Hydra had brainwashed him. He seemed to be fighting back- which was good, but The Asset was in control constantly. The only pro that they had found was that they had not yet tested the serum on Harley. They might have been waiting for him to be completely obedient to them so they didn’t have to deal with a super solider with a mind of his own.

 Peter sighed, “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” 

“Let me talk to my brother,” Abbie’s voice was hard, determined. Her jaw clenched and her brow set and for a split second all Peter could think of was the look on Harley’s face when he was building and it wasn’t working yet. It struck him just how alike the siblings were. Just how much they seemed to mirror each other. Abbie took a step towards him, placing a hand on his shoulder, “I need to talk to him, Peter.” 

“Abbie-“ 

“I know you’re hurt and bitter that your love couldn’t break him out of his own head,” the bluntness was another thing that the siblings had in common, “Just like I know Tony is upset that him being Harley’s father couldn’t break him out of his own head. And I know y’all are trying to spare me the pain, or whatever, of seeing him like this, but listen, I need to talk to him.” 

Peter bit his lip, slumping down slightly, “I’m not bitter, Abbie. I’m scared.” 

She softened, because that’s just how Keeners work. They’re all hard edges with soft underlying tones and they adored the people around them more than words could say. 

“It’s okay to be scared,” she said while pulling  him into a quick hug, arms tight around his neck, “I’m scared too. But I have a theory and an idea.” 

“What’s your theory?” 

“I think only Steve could have broken Bucky out of his head,” Abbie pulled away, stepping back to gesture with her hands as she explained, “because Steve and Bucky have always been together. Since day one. It’s them against the world, and that’s okay. And as much as I hate to say this but it’s not you and Harley against the world. Yeah, you two are so in love it’s disgusting but you’ve only known each other for a year. And as much as I think Tony could, Harley’s only known him for three years. But me? I’ve been there since day one. That’s my older brother. I’m his younger sister. I think I can help.” 

It made sense. That was part of the reason why it was so much easier for Bucky to break out- he had someone from his past, from his Brooklyn days, to talk to. So maybe this would work. Peter felt his gut sink with the idea that maybe it wouldn’t. But then again, maybe it would. 

“I’ll take you to the holding cell.” 

“Thank you.”    
  


Harley was pressed with his back against the glass wall when they came in, his posture rigid and hard against the equally hard glass. He didn’t make any acknowledgment of the two when they came in. He looked tired. 

“Hey baby,” Peter whispered to him, “I brought Abbie down to see you. She just wants to talk.” 

There was silence and Abbie shrugged, “It’s fine if you don’t wanna talk though, Harls, we both know I talk enough for the both of us.” 

That seemed to get a shoulder rise out of Harley, and a sharp exhale out of his nose- almost like he found what she had just said amusing but couldn’t laugh. Peter blinked. That was the first time something like that had ever happened.  He wondered if it was already working, or if Harley was fighting back on his own. 

“I dunno, Harls” Abbie pauses, before sitting with her back to the glass pressed where Harley’s was, facing the wall, “I think I’m very, very angry with you. You said you’d never leave like dad did and then you had to go and get yourself kidnapped by a Nazi organization- which, by the way, if you start spewing antisemitic bullshit, no amount of Hydra training will save you from me or mom beating you up. ‘Cause I know we don’t like, practice actively outside of holidays, but we’re still Jewish, dude.”

Another sharp inhale but this time even lighter, if that was possible, as if he was agreeing with her. Peter felt a tug in his gut. There was  _ no way _ this was working. 

“Do you remember,” Abbie’s voice was quieter now,and she was playing with the cuff of her jeans, with her chin resting on her knees, “When dad used to hit us? Back when we were kids. ‘Cause I know I still have those weird vague nightmares about it. And I think you do too. But honestly, the only thing I can actively remember from when I was a kid was the month after dad left. Because he had left on your birthday, April Fools Day, and we had thought it was a bad joke. But midnight came, and then suddenly it was May first and he was still gone.” 

She paused her words for a second, “And we had stayed up, convinced ourselves that if we could just stay awake until midnight he would be back. I was around three. You were just turned five. It’s my most vivid memory. Because when he didn’t  come back, I started crying, and so did you. But you turned to me and you said, in your stupid five year old voice, ‘come on sissy, let’s go watch The Smurfs because you knew that neither of us would be able to sleep because  _ it wasn’t a joke.  _ And that was the first Keener Kids movie night that mattered.” 

“And after that,” Abbie was still quiet, “After that it was just us. Mom worked three jobs, but could barely cover the cost of your hearing aids and my health problems, not to mention the actual bills of the house and the debt our father had driven her into. It was you, and it was me. You always made sure that I had something to eat, even on nights where we didn’t have anything. You always made sure I was happy. And in turn, I made sure you slept on bad nights or inventing sprees. I made sure you knew you were allowed to be sad. And it was us-” 

“Us against the world,” Harley spoke, voice rough from two days of not talking, but sounding more like Harley than he had since they found him, “Keener Kids against the world.” 

“Yeah,” Abbie turned to grin at him, and Harley’s mouth quirked up into a smile from where he sat facing her, “Yeah, Keener kids against the world.” 

“I-” Harley cut himself off, but started again, “It was us against the world. Even after things got better, we still had each other. We- I broke your tooth once because we got in a fist fight and you bit me. But we watched The Smurfs on VHS later that night. And the day the bullies from school followed me home-” 

Abbie grinned a little wider, “I pretended to be a witch to curse them and Ethan James pissed his pants because you threw fire poppers at them from the roof to help with the illusion.” 

“Yeah,” Harley laughed, actually laughed, and Peter couldn’t breathe because his Harley was finding his way back, “And when I got into MIT, you bet I would destroy a lab within the first week. You won, I didn’t last a day before blowing up Tony’s lab at MIT.”

“It’s because I know you, Harley Tyler Keener,” Abbie told him bluntly, “More than these idiots ever could. I’m the one you came to when you realized you were in love with Peter, and I’m the one who watched you break down when dad left, I’m the one who’s seen you at every high and all the low points, because you are my brother.” 

“You’re my sister,” Harley responded, just as bluntly, “You’re a brat who demands the best in people even when they don’t want to give it. You’re stubborn and rude, and one year you threw a baseball at me so hard it gave me a black eye. You told me how you were afraid to sleep in the dark when we moved to New York to live with Tony, so I got you a middle finger nightlight. We went sledding every winter and one year we crashed into a tree and you broke your leg. You fell in love with Lila Barton, and your best friend’s Miles Morales.” 

“No, you’re wrong,” Abbie shook her head lightly, “I love Miles, but you’re my best friend Harls. For the first ten years of my life you were my only friend, so you’re my best friend. My brother and my best friend.” 

“Oh.” 

“Yeah, oh,” She rolled her eyes, standing up and stretching, “Now come on, let’s get you out of this cell and tell Tony you’ve come back to the land of the living.”

 

They hadn’t gotten a second alone together since Abbie helped bring him back. Granted, that time had been filled with Harley starting B.A.R.F. treatments to help rid the actual brainwashing, and speaking with Bucky to determine just how severe the brainwashing was. They figured out pretty quickly that it was nowhere as near as permanent as Bucky’s. Harley had only gone through the complete and total reset brainwash process three times, whereas Bucky’s mind had been wiped and reset so many times at some points there was hardly a mind left. 

Bruce said that they were lucky. That bringing Harley back to the surface so easily was possible because he’d only had a few treatments, any more and it could have been nasty. But it wasn’t. And Peter was grateful. 

He was grateful, and happy, and so so overjoyed, and he was avoiding Harley. 

Mainly because… he needed to get over his feelings for Harley quick and fast. Harley couldn’t be in a relationship, not now that his mind had been scrambled, and Peter didn’t want to intrude on him by even being in the same room as him. Especially because all he wanted to do every time he saw him since he had gotten back was jump his bones and kiss him and make him feel loved. But Harley deserved to have some time and space to himself before Peter’s friendship and feelings got in the way. Plus, they hadn’t talked at all, and yeah, Peter was avoiding Harley but it takes two to tango. 

He figured that maybe Harley didn’t want to see him. According to Bucky, he had been programmed to kill Peter on sight. But he hadn’t. He hadn’t killed him because Harley was still Harley even deep down, but he couldn’t imagine how that would feel. To be forced to try to kill someone you love. That had to be hard.

He sighed, leaning against a chair in what was his and Harley’s lab. Harley hadn’t been here yet either. Though, to be fair, it was where the whole mess started. And Peter spent most of his time in here. Of course he didn’t spend time in here. ‘Cause he didn’t want to see Peter and- 

“Hey.” 

“Harley,” He breathed, standing up quick, “Hey.” 

 Harley quirked an eyebrow, “You’ve been avoiding me, Peter.”

“What- no I haven’t!” 

“Yes, yes you have,” Harley’s brow furrowed, “Did I do something? Because being told to kill you was not my fault at all- I was brainwashed!” 

“What- Harley, no,” Peter rushed forward, before stopping, “I just- I didn’t want to like pressure you to talk to me. I know life has been really, really stressful lately, and I just didn’t want to add to it with everything-”

“Did you mean it at least,” Harley stepped towards him, cocking his head to the side, those blue eyes always so hard to read, “When you saved me… did you mean what you said?”

“What do you… what  do you mean?” 

“I don’t really- I just- I need to know something,” Harley’s eyes shifted to a more hardset look, as if he was preparing himself for the words that would follow, but his hands were playing with the hem of his shirt, “When you saved me, and you told me you loved me were you saying that because you felt guilty that I got kidnapped?” 

Peter blinked at him, “Of course not, Harley, of  _ course not.  _ I- I’ve been in love with you forever, I just- I didn’t think you were- and then I kinda thrust that all on you because you were brainwashed and trying to kill me- which wasn’t your fault! You didn’t even try to attack me! It was like the brainwashing hadn’t even truly sunk in because you didn’t even put up a fight! Which I firmly believe was  _ you _ shinning through the brainwashing as stupid as that sounds and-“ 

“Peter,” Harley quirked a smile at him, “Breath.” 

“Right. Right. Air is important.” 

“So if you did mean what you said, why are you avoiding me?” 

“I’m not,” Harley shot him a dirty look and it was so Harley that peter felt his gut tingle with warmth and love and admiration, “Okay so I was but- I didn’t think you’d want to see me. Even if you didn’t even try to attack me, having that programming in your head must have been miserable for you, and it really, really, really sucks. Plus I just… I figured if I saw you again I’d want to jump your bones and kiss you and I couldn’t do that to you. Harley, you got your  _ mind scrambled.  _ The last thing you need right now is someone pinning over you and not to absolutely jump your bones and kiss you and hold you and make sure you were okay-“ 

“But what if I want that,” Harley took a slight step forward, so close that if any of them moved again, they would be pressed chest to chest, “What if I want that. What if I’ve been in love with you since the day we met and want you to kiss me, and hold me, and love me with all your heart because I have  _ always  _ loved you Peter. What if I don’t care about the brainwashing or what happened because I’m working on it, I’m trying to fix it, but it’s kinda hard to focus when the one person I want by my side more than anything is avoiding me the best he can.” 

“Harley-“ He blinked, and gave into the temptation to wrap his arms around Harley, pulling him as close as he could. His face was buried in the taller boys shoulder in seconds, “I still can’t do that to you. I still can’t allow you to enter a relationship with me if it’ll hurt you. I never want to hurt you- ever- Harley. We are so lucky that we found you before they injected the serum- before they started torturing you to train you. I think I would have killed them if they had hurt you like that. I really think I would have. But now- now- even with what they did it’s not a good idea for you to be in a relationship, Harley.” 

Harley’s face was also pressed against his shoulder, “But that’s not your call to make, Peter. That’s not fair to me if you make that call. I want to be with you. And it’s not fair that you get to make that call and say that I can’t date you even though  _ I want too.  _ I don’t want this stupid hydra thing to go down as something that stops me from living my life and loving the people in it- that’s not- that’s not your call to make, Peter.” 

“Are you sure?”

“I’ve been in love with you since the day we met. Yes I’m sure.” 

“But I don’t want to-“ 

“Parker, I swear if the next words out of your mouth are hurt you, I will start dating Flash Thompson.”

Peter snorted a laugh, making a zip motion across his mouth. Harley glanced at his lips and then at his eyes, “You said that if we were alone you’d jump my bones and kiss me right?” 

Peter swallowed, nodding his head. He liked where this was going, despite the nerves that were creeping its way into his stomach.  

“Then kiss me, Parker.”

And Peter did. Peter did kiss him. 

  
  


Peter Parker was having a great day. 

In fact, if he had to rate his day, it would probably fall in between his first time swinging through the city as Spider-Man and his first date with his boyfriend. It fell directly in between those two categories. Mainly because it was the end of the school year, with barley an even a month left. Maybe because it had been four months and Harley was making excellent progress with the B.A.R.F. method of getting out programming, and would probably be cleared by the time the sixth month mark came around. 

But mainly he was having a great day because they were having another field trip to Stark Industries. 

And the tour guide would come in the form of one Harley Keener. 

“You seem way more excited for this than you were last time,” MJ raised an eyebrow, “Does this mean Harley is giving the tour?” 

“Yes,” Peter grinned, “It’ll be his frist experience around big crowds again and he’s making so much progress and did I tell you about the date we had the other night and-” 

“And I don't care,” she rolled her eyes, turning to Ned, “Can you believe him?” 

“I think its cute!” 

“I also think Peter is cute,” Harley grinned at them from where he appeared at the entrance of Stark tower, pulling Peter to his side and kissing his cheek, “Hey darlin’.”

“Hi baby,” Peter leaned up to capture his lips real quick, “I thought you were supposed to be leading this field trip, not flirting with me.” 

Harley rolled his eyes, “Yeah, yeah.”

“Well get too it, baby.” 

“Whatever man,” Harley sent him a smirk, stepping back and making his way to the beginning of the crowd, “ Howdy, y’all! I’ll be your tour guide today!” 

Peter grinned. This was going to be an amazing, wonderful, fantastic, absolutely astonishing Field Trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big thank you too apoiios on tumblr for helping me beta read!! 
> 
> You can hit me up @ Peachy-Keener, and I hope you leave a comment!

**Author's Note:**

> I renamed my blog into Peachy-Keener, so check it out!!!
> 
> Tell me what y'all think!!


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